Ex Estate Agent **CLAUSE**

hermanmunster_3

agreed - "introduced" is a very vague term.

.. could mean that they just rang up and asked for the details......

Mutton_Geoff

In my dispute, the agent declared that "introduced" could also mean that the purchaser had simply seen their board on the outside of the property!

zaprok

Mutton Geoff..........that is a true Horror story!!!
I think I showed about 12 people round with the first agent and I'm good with faces so I should remember most of them if they come around with the second agent.
I was'nt aware there were firms checking land registry on behalf of previous estate agents-The sneaky B........!!!!
The law should be made clearer on this,I've not seen anything on my documents stating what time period there is for a previous agent to claim a fee back.The system stinks!!!
Zaprok

rizla01

I never tell EA's where I am moving to anyway and only pay the person that acted in the SALE of the property.

Good luck to any EA that tries to find me thereafter.

done my bit and my concience is clear.

Mutton_Geoff

The agent in question is part of the UK's largest firm, Countrywide PLC. They have a specific department that investigates all land registry returns to see if a property was ever listed with one of their agents. Their standard contract clause covering when fees are due does not have a time expiry. Many agents use 6 months, Countrywide PLC agents, it's open ended. You have been warned!

rizla01

Is that Barstad Thieves we are talking about?
OH Works for them.

upallnighteatingcheese

Only slightly related to this topic, but i thought i'd share my story with you anyway.

My mum was selling her house about 3 years ago and went with the local 'chain of independent estate agents franchise' mob.
The guy that ran the office was about 30 and my mum had known his since he was a wee boy as his family lived about 8 doors down from her and he had been just above me at school....one of her reasons for using him.
Anyways, her house had been on the market a few months and had had few viewings and the advert they put in the paper was pretty unprofessional looking and had the ***** FOR SALE sign taking up a good part of the picture.
So she decided to go with another estate agents. She was reluctant to have viewers before the month was up after leaving the first estate agents as per their contract, and arranged a viewer for the day after the contract expired.....well at least, she though she had.
It turns out she had miscounted days or something and actually had someone up to view the day the contract expired.
After that, she started getting a lot of viewers up, but it was the guy who visited on that day that ended up buying the house.

When the initial estate agents found out, they demanded their share of the profits and she told them where to go.
Eventually they took her to court, and after several court appearances, the judge (or whoever looks over these proceedings) declared that due to the dates and times there was some ambiguity over whether she owed them money or not.
So he asked the two parties whether it would be a suitable arrangement if my mum paid the estate agents 50% of what ***** thought they owed her, and she agreed.
The estate agents refused and demanded she pay it all....the judge then ruled that the estate agents were not entiled to any money and furthermore, they had to pay my mums court costs! :rotfl:

I know this sounds like an exaggerated story, but it really did happen and if i could get personal for a moment, as for the greedy franchised estate agents guy - it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!

jawa1

Our 2nd agent said that even if we gave them a list of people who were introduced by the 1st estate agent and one of them went on to buy they would not let them put the offer in with the 1st EA as they now have sole selling rights.

If we wanted to sell to that person we would have to pay double commission!

Does not seem fair!

Mutton_Geoff

> they now have sole selling rights
> Does not seem fair!

It's not! General advice is to never sign an agreement giving the agent sole selling rights. Even if you then sold your house to a friend or relative, the agent could claim his fee. Many people mistake this with sole agency which is OK, sole selling rights are not.